What does "low" mean?
A low point or position, literally (as, a depth) or figuratively (as, a nadir, a time when things are at their worst, least, minimum, etc).
Low
/ˈləʊ/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A low point or position, literally (as, a depth) or figuratively (as, a nadir, a time when things are at their worst, least, minimum, etc).
- Grammar: low is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: a la sourdine, abject, abject, abject.
- Useful contrasts: long, cacuminal, high.
- Usage evidence: His low salary prevents him from buying the house.
How to use "low"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "low" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "low" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "low" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "low" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "low" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "a la sourdine" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "low", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A low point or position, literally (as, a depth) or figuratively (as, a nadir, a time when things are at their worst, least, minimum, etc).
"You have achieved a new low in behavior, Frank."
- 2 A flame; fire; blaze. Scotland, UK, countable, dialectal
"She was, as one of them expressed himself, in a light low (bright flame) when they observed a king's ship, with her colours up, heave in sight from behind the cape. The guns of the burning vessel discharged themselves […]"
- 3 Barrow, mound, tumulus. archaic, obsolete
"A barrow or Low, such as were usually cast up over the bodies of eminent Captains."
- 4 Acronym of launch on warning. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable
- 5 the lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle; used to start a car moving wordnet
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 A low point or position, literally (as, a depth) or figuratively (as, a nadir, a time when things are at their worst, least, minimum, etc).; The minimum atmospheric temperature recorded at a particular location, especially during one 24-hour period.
"Today's low was 32 °F."
- 7 A hill. Scottish, archaic, dialectal
"And some they brought the brown lint-seed, and flung it down from the Low."
- 8 a low level or position or degree wordnet
- 9 A period of depression; a depressed mood or situation.
"He is in a low right now. the highs and lows of bipolar disorder"
- 10 an air mass of lower pressure; often brings precipitation wordnet
- 11 An area of low pressure; a depression. informal
"A deep low is centred over the British Isles."
- 12 The lowest-speed gearing of a power-transmission system, especially of an automotive vehicle.
"Shift out of low before the car gets to eight miles per hour."
- 13 The lowest trump, usually the deuce; the lowest trump dealt or drawn.
- 14 A cheap, cost-efficient, or advantageous price. slang, usually
"He got the brand new Yankees jersey for the low."
Verb
- 1 To lower; to make low. obsolete, transitive
"I shall only say this, that all the other graces must low the sail to faith, and so it is faith must carry us through, being that last triumphing grace, […]"
- 2 simple past of laugh. form-of, obsolete, past
- 3 To moo. intransitive
"The cattle were lowing."
- 4 To burn; to blaze. Scotland, UK, dialectal
"Driest wood will eithest low,"
- 5 Alternative form of 'low. alt-of, alternative
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- 6 make a low noise, characteristic of bovines wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty.
"standing on low ground"
- 2 Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty.; Pertaining to (or, especially of a language: spoken in) in an area which is at a lesser elevation, closer to sea level (especially near the sea), than other regions.
"the low countries"
- 3 Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty.; Below the batter's knees.
"the pitch (or: the ball) was low"
- 4 Of less than normal height or upward extent or growth, or of greater than normal depth or recession; below the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.
"a low bow"
- 5 Of less than normal height or upward extent or growth, or of greater than normal depth or recession; below the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.; Low-cut.
"Again, observe the unmeaningness of the low neck fashion. Our mothers wore low dresses and bare arms all day long; they knew if their shoulders and arms were beautiful they would look as well by daylight as by candlelight; […]"
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- 6 Not high in status, esteem, or rank, dignity, or quality. (Compare vulgar.)
"low birth"
- 7 Humble, meek, not haughty.
"God loves an humble soul. It is not our high birth, but our low hearts God delights in."
- 8 Disparaging; assigning little value or excellence.
"She had a low opinion of cats. He took a low view of dogs."
- 9 Being a nadir, a bottom.
"the low point in her career"
- 10 Depressed in mood, dejected, sad.
"low spirits"
- 11 Lacking health or vitality, strength or vivacity; feeble; weak.
"a low pulse"
- 12 Lacking health or vitality, strength or vivacity; feeble; weak.; Having few hit points remaining; damaged.
- 13 Dead. (Compare lay low.)
"And wilt thou weep when I am low?"
- 14 Small, not high (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc).
"My credit union charges a low interest rate. Jogging during a whiteout, with such low temperatures and low visibility, is dangerous. The store sold bread at low prices, and milk at even lower prices. The contractors gave a low estimate of the costs. low cholesterol a low voltage wire a low number"
- 15 Small, not high (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc).; Having a small or comparatively smaller concentration of (a substance, which is often but not always linked by "in" when predicative).
"diets low in vitamin A"
- 16 Small, not high (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc).; Depleted, or nearing deletion; lacking in supply.
"running low on cash"
- 17 Simple in complexity or development. especially
"low protozoan animals, low cryptogamic plants, and other low organisms"
- 18 Favoring simplicity (see e.g. low church, Low Tory).
"Among them there was none more low, more pious, more sincere, or more given to interference. To teach Mr. Worth his duty as a parish clergyman was evidently a necessity to such a bishop."
- 19 Being near the equator.
"the low northern latitudes"
- 20 Grave in pitch, due to being produced by relatively slow vibrations (wave oscillations); flat.
"The note was too low for her to sing."
- 21 Quiet; soft; not loud.
"They spoke in low voices so I would not hear what they were saying."
- 22 Made with a relatively large opening between the tongue and the palate; made with (part of) the tongue positioned low in the mouth, relative to the palate.
- 23 Lesser in value than other cards, denominations, suits, etc.
"a low card"
- 24 Not rich or seasoned; offering the minimum of nutritional requirements; plain, simple. archaic
"The Physicians ordered a low diet, and cooling ptisans in great abundance."
- 25 Designed for a slow (or the slowest) speed.
"low gear"
Adjective
- 1 filled with melancholy and despondency wordnet
- 2 of the most contemptible kind wordnet
- 3 being at or having a relatively small elevation or upward extension wordnet
- 4 less than normal in degree or intensity or amount wordnet
- 5 used of sounds and voices; low in pitch or frequency wordnet
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- 6 very low in volume wordnet
- 7 subdued or brought low in condition or status wordnet
- 8 unrefined in character wordnet
- 9 no longer sufficient wordnet
- 10 low or inferior in station or quality wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Close to the ground.
- 2 Of a pitch, at a lower frequency.
"Can sing both high and low."
- 3 With a low voice or sound; not loudly; gently.
"to speak low"
- 4 Under the usual price; at a moderate price; cheaply.
"He sold his wheat low."
- 5 In a low mean condition; humbly; meanly.
"But ever since the concept of "hamartia" recurred through Aristotle's Poetics, in an attempt to describe man's ingrained iniquity, our impulse has been to identify a telling defect in those brought suddenly and dramatically low."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 In a time approaching our own.
"In that part of the world which was first inhabited, […] even as low down as Abraham's time, they wandered with their flocks and herds."
- 7 In a path near the equator, so that the declination is small, or near the horizon, so that the altitude is small; said of the heavenly bodies with reference to the diurnal revolution.
"The moon runs low, i.e. comparatively near the horizon when on or near the meridian."
Adverb
- 1 in a low position; near the ground wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 The station code of Lo Wu in Hong Kong.
- 3 A township municipality in La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada, named after Charles Adamson Low. countable, uncountable
- 4 A ghost town in Tooele County, Utah, United States. countable, uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"His low salary prevents him from buying the house."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "low"?
Common synonyms include: a la sourdine, abject, abject, abject, abominable, accented.
How do you use "low" in a sentence?
His low salary prevents him from buying the house.
How do you pronounce "low"?
Pronounced /ˈləʊ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English lowe, lohe, lāh, from Old Norse lágr (“low”), from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz (“lying, flat, situated near the ground, low”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”). Cognate with Scots laich (“low”), Saterland Frisian läich (“low”), West Frisian leech (“low”), Dutch laag (“low”), obsolete German läg (“low”), German Low German leeg, leeg' (“low”), Danish lav (“low”), Faroese, Icelandic lágur (“low”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish låg (“low”). More at lie.
Etymology 2
From Middle English lough, from Old English hlōh, first and third person singular preterite of hliehhan (“to laugh”). More at laugh.
Etymology 3
From Middle English lowen (“to low”), from Old English hlōwan (“to low, bellow, roar”), from Proto-Germanic *hlōaną (“to call, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call”). Cognate with Dutch loeien (“to low”), Middle High German lüejen (“to roar”), dialectal Swedish lumma (“to roar”), Latin calō (“I call”), Ancient Greek καλέω (kaléō), Latin clāmō (“I shout, claim”). More at claim.
Etymology 4
From Middle English lowe, loghe, from Old Norse logi (“fire, flame, sword”), from Proto-Germanic *lugô (“flame, blaze”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“light”). Cognate with Icelandic logi (“flame”), Swedish låga (“flame”), Danish lue (“flame”), German Lohe (“blaze, flames”), North Frisian leag (“fire, flame”), Old English līeġ (“fire, flame, lightning”). More at leye, light.
Etymology 5
From Old English hlāw, hlǣw (“burial mound”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlaiw. Obsolete by the 19th century, survives in toponymy as -low.
Etymology 6
Apheretic form of allow.
Etymology 7
* As an English and Scottish surname, from the obsolete noun low (“mound, barrow”). * Also as an English and Scottish surname, from the adjective low. * Also as an English and Scottish surname of Norman origin, from Anglo-Norman leu (“wolf”). * Also as a Scottish surname, from a pet form of Lawrence. Compare Lowry. * As a German and Jewish surname, variant of Löwe, Lowe, Loew. * As a Chinese surname, variant of Lau, Lou; also Li, Luo.